Festival Hellenika is one of the Greek world’s most important cultural festivals. Led by Dr Adoni Fotopoulos, years of hard work have resulted in an annual program that showcases Greek arts in South Australia.
Dr Fotopoulos explains that “the festival is an invitation to raise your view and gaze at an ancient, still evolving operating system within/surrounding you … a liberating, expansive empire of the mind and a treasury of Greek ideas that, through time, has been coded into our bodies, psyches, languages, sciences, cultures, values, beliefs, relationships… even the cosmos. So much of our life here is made OF Greece.”
With that poignant statement, the Festival is hosting a number of projects that fit the ethos of what it is setting out to achieve.
On 1 May, at the prestigious Art Gallery of South Australia on North Terrace, The Greeks of South America will screen. The film is a love letter to the Greek world, which Sydneysider Billy Cotsis has “discovered” on his travels this decade across the Americas — exploring love, life, culture, food, music and language. The latter is especially important to Cotsis, as language is central to much of what his film represents.
Cotsis explains, “it is remarkable that in some of the places I have been to, ie Magna Graecia, Palestine to Asia to the Balkans, it’s the language of the Greek communities which holds people of the diaspora together. Which brings me to a great book which Eleni Elefterias Kostakidis wrote/coordinated which covers language, identity and a song which most of the Balkans claim!”
Cotsis is alluding to a groundbreaking book which features some of the biggest names of the Greek academic and literary world, with Cotsis himself among the contributors.
Greek-born, Sydney-based Eleni is one of the few local writers to have had a critically acclaimed book launched in almost every major city in Australia, one which has also made an impact commercially on Amazon.
At a recent event hosted at 21 Shepherd Street, Marrickville (Living Room Theatre), Eleni posed a question: “Would you go to war for a song?”
Her book Whose is this Song? raises that very question, inviting readers to unpack the answer.
“Just like the song, which is shared by many cultures, one that united people, this book is special for many reasons; the calibre and expertise of the writers, their topics that can often be divisive, and their knowledge of the subject. It is the first time such a diverse group of individuals, intellectuals, historians, academics have come together to contribute to a book on such a topic that can be very volatile for many from the area.”
Her book explores Balkan nationalism, Greece and shared culture.
We may as well ask whose book this is, not just whose song, as some of the best Greek-Australian writers and academics have contributed.
Eleni explains the genesis: “One night at a Turkish restaurant, friends, each from a different Balkan country are enjoying a meal. The band plays a known tune and the singer sings in Turkish. Then the discussion gets heated as they each claim that song belongs to their country. This tune has travelled all over the Balkans and has even made it to the USA. The Serbians claim it as Serbian, the Greeks as Greek, the Albanians as Albanian, the Turks as Turkish and the Bulgarians as Bulgarian and so on.”
“Film director Adela Peeva decides to investigate the authenticity and origin of this song. She travels around the Balkans filming and interviewing people about the song.”
The filmmaker finds that in some places, people are willing to go to war over ownership of the song.
Adela explores the song, uncovering nationalism — what is mine cannot be yours — when perceptions of identity and culture are challenged.
Eleni continues, “When I came across this documentary, the ridiculousness of all the arguing over a tune made me want to analyse the film and song further. I decided to write about it and ask a number of other academics and friends to write something either about the film itself, the music or the Balkans and shared culture. Though I compiled the book and chose the contributors it would not have been possible without the help of Dr Alfred Vincent in particular, who also took great interest in the tune and project.”
The support of Dr Alfred Vincent is always a high point for many Greek cultural projects. His support of the Greek language in Sydney and his tireless work for the Greek Festival Cultural Committee is well regarded.
Eleni invited experts in their fields to contribute chapters to the book, including Professor Vrasidas Karalis, Dr Helen Vatsikopoulos, Dr Michael Karadjis, Professor Marian Tutui, Jorge Sotirios, Costa Vertzayias, Professor Nicholas Doumanis and George Michelakakis.
Eleni also paid tribute to AHEPA Sydney & NSW Inc: “I am indebted to the organisation, they helped support and fund the book and of course came along with me on the journey as we released the book to the broader public. Additionally, the support of La Boîte Performance Space, as well as friends and relatives, has been important.”
The Whose is this Song? event will take place on Sunday 3 May at Lockleys Community Centre. A trailer from the documentary will be shown, followed by a discussion featuring Eleni and Billy Cotsis, as well as music by Felicia Harris and Eleni, both well-known musicians in Sydney who will also perform at the film screening.
The Sydneysiders are looking forward to bringing their creativity to Adelaide. Cotsis has been part of the festival’s lineup since the start of the decade with a range of projects, yet he says this weekend will be the best so far.
“I can’t wait to see my friend Irene Kavooris again, who is one of the organisers, as well as the excellent Fotis, the committee and a range of other local Greeks, including Peter who I hang out with in Rio annually!”
Cotsis continues, “some of the Greeks I met are thanks to Peter and also from annual visits. My film on the Friday covers nine Latin American countries, and of course Eleni’s book, where I talk about Hellenism in the Balkans, covers a similar number of countries.”
Event Details:
Friday, 1 May 6.00 pm https://festivalhellenika.org.au/event/the-greeks-of-south-america/
